Rebecca's Interview with James Lynn Bartz

Author of Messenger Twelve

From: Jim Bartz
Hi, how and where can I submit a copy of my new novel, Messenger Twelve for review?
 
Thanks
James
 
Rebecca :
Messenger Twelve has been received & to my surprise I'm enjoying the read! Well done! Very different! Would you be willing to an Interview via eMail?
 
James :
Yes, thank you! An interview would be fun. Could we focus on sources, characters, and my wonderful "Committee of Vigilance?"
 
In comparison, I'm "generic vanilla" and prefer to remain so for now.
 
Rebecca :
"Generic vanilla" indeed!
 
Absolutely, we'll focus on sources, characters & Committee of Vigilance - let me get further into Reef's adventures in San Francisco.
 
What I particularly enjoy are the glimpses of authentic historical moments - the first Messenger he meets, descriptions of words/names that have floated around in the Gold Rush jargon that never were explained.
 
Why were you drawn to write this particular set of stories?
 
James :
I wanted to read an exciting story, one that could portray the excitement and adventure, the joys and sorrows of people who lived, laughed and loved in that era. Since I could not find one, I decided to write one.
 
Rebecca :
How long did the researching & the writing take you?
 
James :
About two and one-half years. I started the first draft in September of '97. Reef and Robin wouldn't speak to me until I gave them some decent names, and I couldn't get Anita to be quiet. I finished the draft six months later. Frankly, it bored me to "flat-line." Then, Caralina was born one day, quite unannounced and I began responding to all of the demands of the Vigilantes. My own research was in libraries and on the Internet. The final draft went to the printer in February of this year.
 
Rebecca :
Just finished Messenger Twelve this afternoon - a fast & evocative read! Am writing my review. I especially enjoyed the feel of the Gold Rush time you created & the snippets of transactions you include together with your chapter titles - well blended!
 
I wasn't charmed by Robin either & wanted so much more of the Wells Fargo connection. The good doctor & his wives are well woven! Did I miss something about the Vigilantes?
 
James :
The Committee of Vigilance was set up by the citizens of San Francisco to counter rampant lawlessness. Since my story moved along well without the committee, I omitted it. When I recruited experts to counter my rampant fabrications, I called them "my Vigilantes." They are listed in the Acknowledgements.
 
Rebecca :
Why Wells Fargo?
 
James :
Such a great story, rich in heritage, uniquely American -- what a shame that it has been lost -- until Messenger Twelve, that is. Many of the people and events in the book really happened.
 
Rebecca :
Panning for gold - did you ever go up beyond Sacremento to the old gold fields & pan for it?
 
James :
Some of the small jewelry shop-owner/miners that sell dust and nuggets along Highway 49(in California), mostly between Fiddletown and Jamestown, offer half-day and full-day tours for tourists to help work their claims, but I have not done it, yet. I tried panning at an old gold dredge tourist place in Fairbanks, but I brought up mostly sand and water.
 
Rebecca :
Have you ever done any sailing? Where to & in what?
 
James :
Twice, as a tourist, each time for about one hour. Once, in your direction, on the brig in the Seattle harbor (I'm hooked on Ivar's). The last time was on the ship, California, in Long Beach harbor. (You may remember it from the Amistad film) I wanted to know at least 1% of what it must have been like. Not wishing to plagarize, I refused to take the advice of one of my editors and read Horatio Hornblower. Instead, I wrote the sea chapters from my two experiences and then spent weeks finding someone else to edit them for me. That's when I found Marcus De Chevrieux, my vigilante for the high seas. I am confident that if ever I must take a tall ship out of New York harbor, the commands in the book will do the job.
 
Rebecca :
Coming up in an island nation I was an avid Horatio Hornblower fan - however Forester's The Ship was what I studied for my GCE. WWII Mediterranean Sea convoy battles. I love passenger liners & loathe rinky-dink sail boats! Love row boats & canoes & have walked all over the Cutty Sark at Greenwich.
 
James :
Much the same research went into the other modes of transportation. The train was the Durango & Silverton RR and the little ride in Central City, both in Colorado. The latter boasts the only remaining operating express car (Adams) in the world.
 
The stagecoach runs daily at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. I rode it in the messenger's seat, and up behind the driver, but not in the rear boot.
 
Rebecca :
How did you feel when your hero, Reef Atherton, was down & out as he is in several moments during your book & did you have to resist the temptation to make it all better for him?
 
James :
I felt very little pity for Reef. He got off easy and I should have been rougher on him. He was a rapist, a murderer, a cheat, a liar, a thief and a perjurer. Not much different than Thai-Saing, really.
 
The tough questions that I had to answer were:
~ Can we come to know and love such a man?
~ Can a company with such a sterling reputation hire him?
~ Can he be willing to change?
 
I felt much more for Caralina, and even more for Anita, as you might deduce from the verse (Caralina's verse "didn't make the cut.') Look how they were treated and yet how humble they were. One editor wanted me to combine the two characters and have Reef "refuse to help the little whore". I found another editor, Moon-Pin, who later became one of my Chinese vigilantes.
 
Rebecca :
I noticed that none of your Chinese women had bound feet - is there a reason for that?
 
James :
Moon-Pin, Mary and Sherry agreed that sing-song girls would not have had bound feet, since they were not high-born. Also, they did not seem to think that it was necessary to bind Shu-Chuan's feet. Maybe it was a potlatch thing, where only the wealthy bind the feet to show that they do not need the women to do any work, much like burning down your house to boast that you have the resources to build another one. Since foot-binding had nothing to do with the story, it did not occur to me to research and include it.
 
Rebecca :
Which event/character resisted your efforts to write about them & why?
 
James :
Robin, definitely. I'm not sure why. I wrote a couple of chapters about her and her childhood sweetheart, Paul, but they sweetened her and did not move the story along, so I took them out. Perhaps I was avoiding creating a conflict for the reader, as my vigilante for relationships, Irving Cooper, kept telling me: Anita gets Reef, ergo, Robin is a bitch. Case closed. I never finished her verse, but I did restore the chantey because it hints of Reef (metaphorically) waving to her and a sweetheart at the same time. An omen.
 
Rebecca :
The authenticity of events & people in Messenger Twelve comes through clearly. Can you expand on the story of Wells Fargo & how you became interested?
 
James :
One day, I bought an old Wells Fargo ribbon sign at a swap meet, and it turned out to be a rare piece. I started reading and got hooked on the romance and the paradoxes, e.g., that Wells and Fargo were executives for American Express and didn't even come to San Francisco to start the company. They sent Samuel P. Carter and Reuben W. Washburn, instead. (I combined them into the single character, Sam Carson, because Carter only stayed in San Francisco one year.) The time line was the most difficult part of the book. For example, it took about six weeks for news to get from New York to San Francisco. One unanswered question soon begged another, e.g:
~ Why did the Chinese prefer Wells Fargo over Adams?
~ What was a dogtype?
~ What was a wet pinch?
~ Why did Wells Fargo survive the panic of 1855 and Adams did not?
~ What happened to those ships that were abandoned in the harbor?
~ How did the sing-song girls get here?
~ Why was the company so important to the miners and merchants?
 
And, the most important question of all:
~ How do you piece it all together into one coherent story that focuses upon the relationships of the people and reveals to us that they were really no different than us?
 
All of these events and things were merely the sets and props of their environment. They had theirs and we have ours. But, as Madelaine says, "We're all Italian."
 
Rebecca :
Lent the copy to our neighbor, Bob, who relishes all things to do with the Old West & guns - came back the next morning & pronounced: "Damn fine read. Stayed up all night. Knew his guns. When is he writing a sequel?" - praise indeed!
 
James :
Thank you for loaning the book to a neighbor. His comments are pleasing. All night, huh?
 
Rebecca :
Do you have a publicity photo you could eMail to the Webmaster & any publicity appearance dates we can post on our Authors Sightings page?
 
James :
I thought about putting a bio and photo on the dust jacket, but my competition (the best-seller rack at Barnes & Noble) convinced me that I should not try to compete on that basis. I would prefer that the book sell on the basis of the story and characterization, rather than on my fizz. If the book fails for lack of a good story and good characters, then it deserves to fail.
 
However, I will help you sell it!
 
I am attending the San Diego Open Air Book Fair on Sunday, June 4th, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., 33rd St. & Adams (an omen?) Avenue. A Wells Fargo treasure box, Reef's badge, and the horse blanket, similar to the one that Reef wrapped around Caralina, will be on display. Maybe the trunk, too, but probably not, as it is a real beast to haul around.
 
This display (and signing) is available for future appointments within a one-hundred mile radius of Lake Forest by calling 1.800.569.2825. That turns out to be a semi-circle, however, because Lake Forest is only about ten miles from the ocean.
 
Rebecca :
Glad you expanded on your Committee of Vigilantes - makes great reading.
 
Fine about the bio! You've given me plenty to fill the interview out. Great Answers! Well done!


(Published June 4, 2000)